Mars Volta to get the Monday lunchroom up and happening. Recorded during the Open’Er Festival in Gdynia, Poland on July7, 2012 and broadcast by Polski Radio.
Since putting Mars Volta on hiatus for almost 8 years, Mars Volta is up and running again. That said, we’re diving back to 2012 for this concert.
The Mars Volta formed in 2001. The band’s only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the band. The band’s current line-up also includes founding member Eva Gardner (bass), Omar’s brother Marcel Rodríguez-López (keyboards, synths, percussion), Leo Genovese (piano, keyboard, saxophone) and Linda-Philomène Tsoungui (drums).
Known for their energetic live shows and concept albums, The Mars Volta formed following the break-up of Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala’s previous band, At the Drive-In. Seeking to experiment and expand their sound, Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala recruited Gardner, Isaiah “Ikey” Owens (keyboards), Jon Theodore (drums) and Jeremy Ward (sound manipulation) to form The Mars Volta. The band released their debut EP, Tremulant, in 2002, with Gardner leaving the band prior to recording their debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium. She was replaced by Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ bass guitarist Flea for the sessions. The Rick Rubin-produced album received widespread critical acclaim upon its release in 2003.
In 2012 Omar Rodríguez-López decided to put The Mars Volta on hold to fully concentrate on his new project, Bosnian Rainbows, which also features Deantoni Parks. When asked in an interview if the band will reunite, he stated:
I don’t know, and I’m not insecure enough to have to ask myself that. It’s like, we’ve done that for ten years, eleven years. Now we’re all doing different things, and everything that we’re doing informs how we express ourselves, and so if that happens then it happens and if it doesn’t it doesn’t. It’s not something to be worried about. It shouldn’t occupy a space in the mind. There’s way too many things that are much too important to occupy space in the mind.
On January 23, 2013, Cedric Bixler-Zavala revealed that he was no longer a part of The Mars Volta on Twitter and that the band had broken up.
Cut to: In an interview with Rolling Stone on July 11, 2016, when asked about a potential return of The Mars Volta, Rodriguez-Lopez stated, “At some point, we’d love to do [Mars Volta] again too, you know what I mean? There’s so much to do there as well.” In February 2018, Bixler-Zavala confirmed on Twitter that The Mars Volta will “be back soon”, but later clarified that At the Drive-In activity will take precedence for the immediate future. In May 2019, further tweeting from Bixler-Zavala suggested he and Rodríguez-López had been experimenting with new material.
For now, it’s a blast back to 2012 for a show they did in Poland. Grab lunch and crank this one up.
